Patches
by Mary Kleinsmith
Summary: Behind SG1 and the other teams of the SGC is an unsung support system. This is a brief piece about one of them.


Patches

By Mary Kleinsmith

Rating: G

Pairing: Slight S/J mention

Archive: SJD, samandjackalways, Jackfic, and Helio. Anywhere else, yes, just let me know where.

Summary: Behind SG1 and the other teams of the SGC is an unsung support system. This is a brief piece about one of them.

Spoilers: General throughout the series, but it goes past the eight seasons.

Disclaimer: The only character that's mine is the speaker. The rest belong to somebody else.

Author's Note: I'm not sure why, but this idea stuck in my head from nowhere and wouldn't go away until I wrote it. The piece is very short, but I hope it touches you.

Feedback: Yes, please?

Patches

I sit at my machine and think about my list of assignments over the past week. I had four more of those weird patches with the big "V" numbers in the middle, "24" this time, and four more of the round ones with the weird "A" on them. I don't think I'll ever understand working for the government. I have no idea what these patches are I'm sewing, and yet I had to sign a non-disclosure agreement just to sew them. And while patches of this kind are usually sewn on an assembly line with a slew of automated machines, these have to be hand done.

I remember the very first time they called me. At the time, I was doing sewing on the side for extra pocket change here and there. Let me tell you, being visited by an officer of our United States armed services was quite the shock to a retired woman living in a run down apartment in Colorado Springs. I asked them how they found me, but they just said I was recommended; I never figured out who did me the favor.

The first ones, naturally, were to have a "1" on the "V" patch. They would never and have never told me what the number stands four, but along with the first set of patches – eight of them – there were four pairs of name patches. I remember them so clearly, even though it was many years ago.

O'Neill (with two L's – don't get it wrong!)

Carter

Jackson

Teal'c

O'Neill was always on the list first, and I know enough about the military to know that probably meant that he was the highest in rank. It's just the way they do things. Which meant Carter was #2. I don't know why, but when I think of that name, I just see a woman. It makes no sense, and I've never believed in ESP, but that's what comes to mind. Maybe she's brunette, or maybe she's blonde, but I'm confident Carter is a woman.

Jackson is a nice, wholesome name, and I imagine short hair and freckles, which is also an assumption on my part. Hey, I can imagine what I like, right? After all, it's not like I'll ever meet any of them.

Then there's Teal'c. What kind of last name was Teal'c?

I thought that at the time, and I still think about it often. Not that I'm well traveled or have met people from many other cultures or continents, but I do read a lot. You'd think I'd have seen similar names. But maybe it's an ethnic thing that's just coming into vogue now. For all I know, it could be an alien!

But still, those names are caught in my mind forever. I imagine what heroes they are, defending our country against all the evils that are out there in our world. I admit, I have indulged in a bit of fantasizing about what these people do that might be so top secret. Infiltrating foreign governments? Fighting domestic terrorism? Working in Roswell, new Mexico? There's no end to the things I can imagine.

Over the years, there were other numbers on the patches on a fairly regular basis, but somehow, the "1" patch kept making a recurring appearance. I wondered what these people were doing with their uniforms that they kept needing to be replaced, but it was an itch I was never going to be able to scratch, so I learned to let it go.

There was a time, after several years, where there must have been a change, and I wondered what exactly had happened. Again, I knew I'd never know. Suddenly, there were no replacement patches for "Jackson." And there was a new name to go with a "1" patch – Quinn. I had to chuckle because it reminded me of that old song about Quinn the Eskimo. I guess it's possible the new "Quinn" could be an Eskimo, but it's probably not likely. Still, who was he or she? Were they old or young? I began to wonder and imagine the same about this new person as the others. There were still several requests for new patches for Carter and Teal'c, and many for O'Neill.

A few years after that, O'Neill's disappeared. I prayed he wasn't killed in the line of duty, and checked the newspaper religiously for the name to assure myself that wasn't the case. It never appeared, so maybe he simply retired. "Jackson," somehow, returned after over a year's absence, and the numbers on the patches grew higher and higher. But "1" remained the one that fascinated me the most.

I've thought about retiring from time to time – the arthritis in my hands makes making the patches hard these days – but what would a lonely old spinster like me do without this in my life to give me purpose. Somehow, I feel like I'm contributing, and that's something I haven't been able to do in a long time. I have no children, and no husband – nobody but me, my dog, and my sewing machine. But I'm getting tired, and I sadly recognize that it may be time to turn over this task to a younger person. I have one last order to complete before I call my contact and tell them I can no longer perform this duty.

This order is somehow special: name patches only, this time saying, "Carter-O'Neill."

Somehow, I'd always suspected this was the case. I've just finished the last of them, and I think it's time to go to bed now.

XXXXXXXXXX

George Hammond, Jack O'Neill, Samantha Carter-O'Neill, Daniel Jackson, Jonas Quinn, and Teal'c stood at the quiet gravesite after the funeral, and felt for the woman who's farewell had been so sparsely attended. The military among them, Hammond, O'Neill, and Carter, wore their service dress uniforms, while the civilians, Jackson, Quinn, and Teal'c wore dark suits and ties of varying styles. Jack and Sam held hands where they stood side by side.

"Why are we here, General?" Jonas asked in a whisper. "Did we know this woman?"

"In a way, Son," Hammond said in an equally quiet whisper. "She's somebody who kept our secret for nearly a decade."

"What did she know?" Jack asked with a concerned expression.

"Really, she knew nothing. But she was content to not know. She was the only person in the world entrusted to make the patches you all wore on your uniforms since the SGC's inception. Every single one was hand made by her, in secrecy, to protect the existence of the Stargate."

"I wish, just once, she'd been able to see what we do," Daniel said sadly after a long silence. "She deserved at least that much."

"Perhaps she can see now," Teal'c proposed with reverence.

"If you can see us," Jack said respectfully, "thank you."

With that, the six members of the SGC turned and left the graveside with silent prayers to rest in peace. And somewhere, the woman's spirit looked down on them and smiled warmly, able to finally move on from this world now that she'd seen those she'd been protecting. And hoping that, where she was going, she'd still be able to protect them in some small measure.

The End.


End file.
